President Mahama Pursues Trade Ties with Canada and Caribbean
President John Dramani Mahama signed an economic framework with Canada and announced plans to link African and Caribbean trade blocs.
John Dramani Mahama, President of Ghana, is pursuing a series of strategic economic partnerships to expand Ghana's global trade reach. During the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in St. John’s, Antigua and Barbuda, Mahama met with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney to strengthen bilateral ties. The leaders signed a Letter of Intent to establish a Canada-Ghana economic cooperation framework focusing on mining, critical minerals, renewable energy, and infrastructure development. This agreement follows a year in which bilateral merchandise trade grew by 50 percent and Canadian exports to Ghana rose by 35 percent.
Beyond bilateral ties, Mahama announced that Ghana will advocate for a trade synergy between Africa and the Caribbean after assuming the chairmanship of the African Union next year. This initiative stems from talks held in August with Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness. Mahama intends to link the African Continental Free Trade Area with the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) to create a larger, more integrated trading bloc. To facilitate this cooperation, he emphasized that member countries must deposit the instruments of the African Continental Free Trade Area protocols.
